Medieval Christian Theologians (A.D. 1000 to 1350)

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MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIANS


Thomas Aquinas

Peter Lombard (c. 1100–60) wrote the Sentences, which served for centuries as the basic text for theological education in Europe. Anselm (1033–1109) was influenced by Augustine but was an innovator who introduced a more formal method in theology.

Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) was probably the greatest of the medieval theologians, and some regard his Summa Theologica as the finest theological work ever written. In the later Middle Ages, Duns Scotus (1266–1308) and William Ockham (c. 1285–1347) stressed God's freedom and omnipotence. Gregory Palamas (c. 1296–1359), who defended the Hesychasts and their claim of divine illumination during prayer, was among the most original thinkers in Orthodoxy after the eighth century.

Michael J. McClymond wrote in “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: Western theology reached a climax in the work of Thomas Aquinas, who synthesized many strands of ethical thought. Following Aristotle, Aquinas held that humans are teleological, or goal oriented. Human fulfillment consists of knowing and choosing good ends. The natural virtues of wisdom, justice, prudence, and temperance contribute to this fulfillment. The supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and love complement the natural virtues in such a way that "grace does not destroy nature but perfects it." Perfect fulfillment comes only in the "beatific vision" of the saints who see God in heaven. Aquinas and his Dominican order emphasized reason, while Bonaventure and the Franciscans highlighted the will and the exercise of love as the chief features in human fulfillment. [Source: Michael J. McClymond, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, 2000s, Encyclopedia.com]

Websites and Resources: Early Christianity: PBS Frontline, From Jesus to Christ, The First Christians pbs.org ; Elaine Pagels website elaine-pagels.com ; Sacred Texts website sacred-texts.com ; Gnostic Society Library gnosis.org ; Guide to Early Church Documents iclnet.org; Early Christian Writing earlychristianwritings.com ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; BBC on Christianity bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity ; Candida Moss at the Daily Beast Daily Beast Christian Classics Ethereal Library www.ccel.org; Saints and Their Lives Today's Saints on the Calendar catholicsaints.info ; Saints' Books Library saintsbooks.net ; Saints and Their Legends: A Selection of Saints libmma.contentdm ; Saints engravings. Old Masters from the De Verda collection colecciondeverda.blogspot.com ; Lives of the Saints - Orthodox Church in America oca.org/saints/lives ; Lives of the Saints: Catholic.org catholicism.org



Anselm

Anselm of Canterbury 1033/4–1109) was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. After his death, he was canonized as a saint; his feast day is 21 April. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by a papal bull of Pope Clement XI in 1720. [Source: Wikipedia]

As Archbishop of Canterbury, he defended the church's interests in England amid the Investiture Controversy. For his resistance to the English kings William II and Henry I, he was exiled twice: once from 1097 to 1100 and then from 1105 to 1107. While in exile, he helped guide the Greek Catholic bishops of southern Italy to adopt Roman rites at the Council of Bari. He worked for the primacy of Canterbury over the archbishop of York and over the bishops of Wales but, though at his death he appeared to have been successful, Pope Paschal II later reversed papal decisions on the matter and restored York's earlier status.

St. Anselm is regarded as a speculative thinker. His most important philosophical and theological writings include 1) The Proslogium, 2) the Monologium and 3) the Cur Deus Homo. According to Weber's History of Philosophy: "The second Augustine, as St. Anselm had been called, starts out from the same principle as the first; he holds that faith precedes all reflection and all discussion concerning religious things. The unbelievers, he says, strive to understand because they do not believe; we, on the contrary, strive to understand because we believe. They and we have the same object in view; but inasmuch as they do not believe, they cannot arrive at their goal, which is to understand the dogma. The unbeliever will never understand. In religion faith plays the part played by experience in the understanding of the things of this world. The blind man cannot see the light, and therefore does not understand it; the deaf-mute, who has never perceived sound, cannot have a clear idea of sound. Similarly, not to believe means not to perceive, and not to perceive means not to understand. Hence, we do not reflect in order that we may believe; on the contrary, we believe in order that we may arrive at knowledge. A Christian ought never to doubt the beliefs and teachings of the Holy Catholic Church. All he can do is to strive, as humbly as possible, to understand her teachings by believing them, to love them, and resolutely to observe them in his daily life. Should he succeed in understanding the Christian doctrine, let him render thanks to God, the source of all intelligence! In case he fails, that is no reason why he should obstinately attack the dogma, but a reason why he should bow his head in worship. Faith ought not merely to be the starting-point, --the Christian's aim is not to depart from faith but to remain in it, --but also the fixed rule and goal of thought, the beginning, the middle, and the end of all philosophy.

Michael Defazio wrote: Anselm of Canterbury is probably best known for his arguments concerning the existence of God—especially what has come to be called the ontological argument. His well-reasoned arguments for God’s existence reveal a primary characteristic of all his work, namely, the aim to explain by reason how the things he already believed made sense. This principle holds true for Cur Deus Homo? (hereafter CDH), in which Anselm attempts to explain the rationale behind God’s chosen method for saving the world

Anselm’s first of all teaches that humankind has offended God’s honor by not fulfilling the duty of perfect obedience. As rational creatures, humans owed God nothing less than total devotion in every inclination and action. By refusing to render God this due, humans place themselves in a position of debt before God. Sin is understood primarily as the failure to fulfill a duty and subsequent owing of a payment in recompense. By sinning, humankind has also disrupted the order, harmony, and beauty of the universe. Anselm’s critics often miss this last point, which distorts their understanding of the next basic tenet of Anselm’s argument.

Secondly, according to Anselm, God’s honor and justice require that human sin be either satisfied or punished. For God to forgive sin outright by a simple act of the will would introduce irregularity into God’s Kingdom of order and beauty. Anselm does not picture God as a distant offended monarch harshly demanding death in order to be appeased, but as one committed to the world as he created it. For God to go against his own character and plan would disrupt the universe’s harmony, thus rendering restoration impossible. Apart from satisfaction, God could only punish humankind in toto, which also remains out of the question since it would mean God’s failure to bring about his purposes for creation. Throughout CDH Anselm distinguishes satisfaction from punishment (cf. 1.13). Since Anselm viewed sin in terms of a debt incurred, by paying the debt humankind could avoid the punishment that would otherwise follow.

It was this situation which made necessary the Incarnation of the Son of God. Only as God-Man (Deus-Homo) could Christ take our place and render that satisfaction. The satisfaction did not consist in Christ's earthly life of obedience, for as a man living in this world He owed that obedience to God anyway. The significance of a real satisfaction lay exclusively in giving up His life. To this, as a man, He was not obligated, because He was sinless and needed not to die. The value of Christ's death was heightened by His voluntary submission. Such a voluntary self-sacrificing death of a sinless man God had to reward. But for Himself, the God-Man was in no need of reward, for everything the Father has is already His, and in His sinlessness He owes no debt that need be remitted. Therefore He gives His reward, the fruit of His work, to those for whose salvation He became man, namely, His brethren who are burdened with debt. Anselm was therefore a pioneer in elaborating a juridical satisfaction theory of Atonement, seeing it in terms of a debt paid to God for sinful man. The death of Christ is the one central saving act of Christ, which brings merits applicable to the debt of sinners.

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas (1224-74) is regarded by the Catholic church as its greatest theologian and philosopher. He wrote Summa Theoligoca , considered one of the greatest books ever written. It's purpose was nothing less than trying to answer all of the great questions about God, humanity and the universe. He was canonized in 1323 and declared a doctor of the church in 1567. Based on the number of books written about him (1,424 in 1999 in the Library of Congress collection), Thomas Aquinas is the world's 27th most famous person. He ranks behind Jesus and Wagner but ahead of Cervantes and St. Paul.

Thomas Aquinas (also known as Thomas of Aquino) was born in the castle of Roccasecca, near Naples. His father was a count. He received an early education at the nearby abbey of Monte Cassino and entered the University of Naples at the age of 16. While he was there he became a Dominican friar, much to his family's dismay. His brother captured and imprisoned him in Roccasecca. He refused to back down from his commitment to be a monk, continuing his studies in his cell. After two years he escaped down a rope ladders and was sent by the Dominicans to Cologne to study under Albertus Magnus, regarded as the most learned man of his time. He later studied in Paris.

In 1252, Thomas was called to Rome. He spent the rest of his life lecturing, preaching, writing and studying, chiefly in Italian cities and Paris. He died at the age of 49 while on his way to attend a church council in Lyons. His literary output was enormous. Sometimes he dictated to several scribes on different subjects at the same times. His primary works were Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica .

Thomas has been linked to the rise of learning and scholarship that took place during the time in which he lived, when many of Europe's first universities were founded and education w as linked with the church. Early thinkers like Thomas accepted Christian doctrines as beyond dispute but also studied and translated the ancient Greek philosophers, particularly Plato and Aristotle, and set about harmonizing their ideas with Christianity.

Seven Deadly Sins and Thomas Aquinas's Marriage of Theology and Reason


SummaTheologiae

The writing and theories of St. Thomas Aquinas are the cornerstone of the Roman Catholic church. In 1268-73, Aquinas merged scientific inquiry and Christian thought while ruminating about Aristotle's physical studies and trying to figure the best way to investigate God's plan for mankind. Thomas held that there were two sources of knowledge: revelation (theology) and reason (philosophy) and suggested that revelation was a divine source of knowledge that revealed truths that must be believed by men even if they cannot be understood.

Michael J. McClymond, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices: Following Aristotle, Aquinas held that humans are teleological, or goal oriented. Human fulfillment consists of knowing and choosing good ends. The natural virtues of wisdom, justice, prudence, and temperance contribute to this fulfillment. The supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and love complement the natural virtues in such a way that "grace does not destroy nature but perfects it." Perfect fulfillment comes only in the "beatific vision" of the saints who see God in heaven. Aquinas and his Dominican order emphasized reason, while Bonaventure and the Franciscans highlighted the will and the exercise of love as the chief features in human fulfillment. [Source: Michael J. McClymond, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, 2000s, Encyclopedia.com]

Aquinas said "Christ was either a liar, lunatic of Lord." He expressed anti-Semitic views and blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus. He referred to sex as "lust" and maintained that the only justifiable sex was sex intended for procreation. He also described four kinds of offensive sex (in descending order of offensiveness): 1) bestiality; 2) homosexuality; 3) any sex position other than the face-to-face "missionary" position; and 4) masturbation, which for men he said was effeminate.

Thomas Aquinas described the Seven Deadly Sins: 1) sloth, 2) gluttony, 3) pride, 4) anger, 5) envy, 6) greed, and 7) lust. Some of the sins are more complex than what they appear on the surface. Gluttony, for example, according to Aquinas, has five forms: overeating, eating too soon, eating too eagerly, eating too daintily and spending too much on expensive foods. Aquinas said that gluttony was the least serious of the deadly sin. Perhaps this was so because he had a weight problem himself.

Thomas Aquinas’s Contributions to Christianity

Thomas Aquinas , "Doctor angelicus", Carl A. Volz wrote, “integrated Aristotelian philosophical principles with traditional speculative theology, and he created, by remolding and rethinking existing materials and old problems, wholly new and original Christian philosophy. He admitted into the Christian purview all the natural values of human social activity and by implication a host of other activities such as art. He insisted on a separation of the spheres of reason and revelation, the natural and the supernatural. It was through observation of external reality, not through the soul's direct consciousness of its own or of God's existence, that a proof of the First Cause could be found. It gave a new dignity to human reason by lending philosophical support to a conviction common to all men, that our knowledge comes from the universe around us. Truth is one! Grace does not destroy nature; it perfects nature. The first original philosophical system produced by Christianity. [Source: Carl A. Volz, late professor of church history at Luther Seminary, web.archive.org, martin.luthersem.edu /::]

“It is frequently said that Aquinas reflected an alleged Dominican emphasis in stressing reason over will; whereas the Franciscans stressed will over reason. The Franciscans were more in debt to Augustine, the Dominicans to Aristotle. Man is born into the world of nature and he is determined by nature. He makes his decisions in terms of reason. Man can know that there is a God and this can be demonstrated by proofs. The reason for this is that creation is rational. Man can also know the moral life by reason. He can achieve a great deal through the application of reason, as witness Aristotle and all the ancients. But man as a creature of nature is incomplete. He lacks something and only God can supply this lack. Man receives Grace through Baptism, and in this state he lives by faith and not by reason. He accepts the truths of divine revelation. He assents to revelation. Faith does not seek proof; it is itself assent and approval. When man has entered this world of grace and has accepted the truths of divine revelation, faith determines reason! Reason may object to truths, but the man of faith who believes can employ reason to show that the truths of faith do not contradict reason. Faith is above reason. Faith determines reason. The truths of faith are higher than the truths of reason./::\

“Aquinas posits a sharp distinction between reason and faith. If in a large area reason is paramount, many of the fundamental Christian verities (Trinity, Incarnation, original sin) lie wholly beyond its province. But while such doctrines cannot be established by reason they must not be considered contrary to reason. Indeed, up to a point, reason can often indicate their probability and rebut arguments designed to overthrow them. Such doctrines reach us through revelation, which is embodied in Scripture and in the consistent teachings of the Fathers. As their province is that of faith, where primacy belongs to the will and not the intellect, their acceptance by the believer is a matter for moral decision. On the other hand, such truths as the existence of God, His eternity and simplicity, His creative power and providence, can be discovered by the natural reason altogether apart from revelation. /::\

“The Incarnation and Sacraments claimed his special interest. On contraverted matters he tended to follow the tradition of his Order. He held that all seven sacraments were instituted by Christ, that the Eucharist was the highest form of sacrament, and that as the ultimate purpose of the Sacrament of Order was the Eucharist, the Priesthood was the highest of the seven orders, and the Spiscopate therefore not a separate order. For the elaboration of the doctrine of transubstantiation which had been formally defined at the 4th Lateran Council in 1215, he employed the Aristotelian philosophy of substance and accidents. The concomitance of the Body and Blood of Christ in both Eucharistic species afforded theological justification for communion in one kind.


Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things by Hieronymus Bosch


“"Summa contra Gentiles" was designed as a textbook for missionaries. It contains a defense of natural theology against the Arabians. The "Summa theologica", the highest achievement of medieval theological systematization, was the latest of his works and unfinished at his death.” /::\

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Christian Origins sourcebooks.fordham.edu “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File); “ Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); King James Version of the Bible, gutenberg.org; New International Version (NIV) of The Bible, biblegateway.com; Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ccel.org , Frontline, PBS, Wikipedia, BBC, National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Live Science, Encyclopedia.com, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, Business Insider, AFP, Library of Congress, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2024


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